Definite versus indefinite article in Greek.

Definite versus indefinite article in Greek.

Lesson 52

One of the challenges the Greek language learners have to face is the correct use of the articles. Today we will learn when we use the definite and when we use the indefinite articles in Greek.

In Greek there are two different types of articles, the definite and the indefinite articles. Let’s see first the definite article.

 While in English there is only one definite article (the) and we can use it for all the genders in Singular and in Plural, the Greek definite article is a declinable word and it has three genders.

Ενικός αριθμός/Singular
	Αρσενικό/masculine	Θηλυκό/feminine	Ουδέτερο/neuter
Ονομαστική/Nom.	ο	η	το
Γενική/Genitive	του	της	του
Aιτιατική/Acc.	τον	τη(ν)	το
Πληθυντικός αριθμός/Plural
	Αρσενικό/masculine	Θηλυκό/feminine	Ουδέτερο/neuter
Ονομαστική/Nom.	οι	οι	τα
Γενική/Genitive	των	των	των
Aιτιατική/Acc	τους	τις	τα

*Υou can find details about the definite article’s declination in one of the previous lessons.

Let’s see when we use the definite article in Greek:

1.We use the definite article when we talk about a person, about animals or things which are known to us or have been previously introduced.

Η γάτα μου είναι άρρωστη./ My cat is sick.

 We use the definite article because we talk about a cat which is known to us, we talk specifically about “my” cat.

Τα κλειδιά σου είναι πάνω στο τραπέζι./ Your keys are on the table.

We use the definite article because we talk specifically about “your” keys.

2. We use the definite article when we talk about a group of similar things.

Λατρεύω τα γλυκά/ I adore sweets.

Ο σκύλος είναι ο καλύτερος φίλος του ανθρώπου./ Dog is man’s best friend.

3. We use the definite article before proper names.

Ο Γιώργος είναι πολύ ευγενικός./ George is very polite.

Αγαπώ τον Γιώργο./ I love George.

Είμαι η Ζωή./ I am Zoi.

 But we don’t use articles when we use one of the following ways to say our name:

Με λένε Ζωή.

Το όνομά μου είναι Ζωή.

Λέγομαι Ζωή.

Ονομάζομαι Ζωή.

Be careful: We don’t use articles when the proper name is in the Vocative case, so when we talk to someone directly.

Γιώργο, σε ψάχνει η μαμά σου./ George, your mother is looking for you.

4. We use the definite article before the names of countries or cities.

Η Κωνσταντινούπολη είναι η αγαπημένη μου πόλη./ Istanbul is my favorite city.

Είμαι από την Ελλάδα./ I am from Greece.

5. We use the definite article before days, months and years.

Η Χριστίνα γεννήθηκε το 1995./ Christina was born in 1995.

Θα πάω στην Ελλάδα τον Αύγουστο./ I will go to Greece in August.

While in English we use prepositions to say “in August”, “in 1995”, “on Monday”, in Greek we use the definite article in Accusative. Of course the noun that follows is in Accusative as well.

Τη Δευτέρα δε δουλεύω, εσύ; /On Monday I don’t work, you?

Τις Δευτέρες δουλεύω μέχρι αργά./ On Mondays I work until late.

6. Also sometimes we use the definite article before an adverb. In this case we use the adverb the same way we use a noun.

Με τρομάζει το αύριο. / «Τhe tomorrow» scares me.

The word αύριο is an adverb and it means “tomorrow”. When we use it with the definite article, it becomes like a noun and we can use it instead of the neuter noun το μέλλον/the future.

Let’s see now the indefinite article. The indefinite article is a declinable word, so it has to agree in gender and in case with the noun and it is only used before Singular nouns. It is like the English “a/an”. Let’s see its declination.

Ενικός αριθμός/ Singular
	Αρσενικό/masculine	Θηλυκό/feminine	Ουδέτερο/neuter
Ονομαστική/Nom.	ένας	μια	ένα
Γενική/Genitive	ενός	μιας	ενός
Αιτιατική/Acc.	έναν	μια	ένα

We use the indefinite article when we talk about someone or something not specific or not previously mentioned.

Μια μητέρα μπορεί να κάνει τα πάντα για τα παιδιά της./ Α mother can do everything for her children.

We talk generally about mothers so we have to use the indefinite article. But:

 Η μητέρα μου με αγαπάει πάρα πολύ./ My mother loves me very much.

I talk specifically about my mother, so I have to use the definite article.

Θέλω να αγοράσω ένα βιβλίο μαγειρικής./ I want to buy a cookbook.

 I talk generally. I don’t know which one I will buy. But:

Το βιβλίο μαγειρικής που μου έδωσες είναι πολύ καλό./ The cookbook that you gave me is very good.

I talk specifically about the book that you gave me so I have to use the definite article.

Θα φορέσω ένα κόκκινο πουκάμισο./ I will wear a red shirt.

 I don’t know which one, so I use the indefinite article. But:

Θα φορέσω το κόκκινο πουκάμισο με την πεταλούδα./ I will wear the red shirt with the butterfly.

I talk specifically about the red shirt with the butterfly, so I have to use the definite article.

Μια μέρα θα γίνω πλούσιος./ One day I will become rich.

Την ημέρα εκείνη, θα βοηθήσω όλα τα παιδιά του κόσμου./ That day, the day I will become rich, I will help world’s all children.

So the first time we mention something we use the indefinite article and then the definite article.

As we said we use the indefinite article only before singular nouns.

Θέλω να αγοράσω ένα βιβλίο./ I want to buy a book.

If I want to buy more than one books but I can’t use the definite article because I don’t know which books I will buy, I can say: Θέλω να αγοράσω μερικά βιβλία./ I want to buy some books.

So in plural we can use the pronouns μερικοί-μερικές-μερικά and κάποιοι-κάποιες-κάποια/ some. We will learn their declination in the next lessons.

The indefinite article is same with the cardinal adjective ένας-μία-ένα/ one.

In one of the previous lessons we learnt that the word μία/μια can be pronounced like a two-syllable word or like an one-syllable word. When the word is pronounced like an one syllable word, it is written without accent (μια), and it is the feminine indefinite article. When the word is pronounced like a two syllable word, it is written with accent (μία) and it is the cardinal adjective-one. To be honest in oral speech we use the two words interchangeably.